Man's confession motives questioned

The alleged confession to a 2001 killing in St. Augustine may have come from a need "to get it off his chest," Police Chief Loran Lueders suggested Wednesday.

But it's also possible, Lueders conceded, that Mark Dean Aldridge, 51, would rather spend the rest of his life in a Florida prison than finish out his term in the Mississippi State Prison at Parchman Farm.

If the latter reason is true, perhaps a way should be found to send him back to Mississippi, the victim's daughter said.

"I don't think this guy has any conscience," said Sandra Jordan, daughter of Eva Lewis, who was shot to death on Nov. 27, 2001, in the BP station she managed.

"I'd like to send him back," she added.

Aldridge notified the Mississippi prison system's Criminal Investigations Unit in May that he had information about Lewis' death, Lueders said at a morning press conference.

He gave two local detectives "information about the crime scene and the crime that were never released, that nobody could have known about unless they were present at the crime," said Lueders.

"Since that time, we followed up different investigative leads, built up what we think is a strong case against him," he added.

Lewis, 59, usually worked alone at Skinner Oil's BP station near the intersection of U.S. 1 and State Road 16. The station has been replaced by a CVS pharmacy.

Someone entered the gas station/convenience store, shot Lewis and took between $200 and $300 from the cash register.

Two men were arrested in 2005 and charged with capital murder for the crime. The charges were dropped on Aug. 4, 2006, against James and Warren Moody, who are not related and barely knew each other.

Asked the difference between Aldridge's case and that against the Moodys, Lueders said, "(There is) actually hard evidence in this one. The other was a circumstantial case."

Aldridge was sentenced to 25 years in an Ohio prison in 1981, convicted of rape, "gross sexual imposition," petit theft and aggravated burglary.

He was released on July 23, 2001.

"I guess he just went under the radar till November," Lueders said. "In November, he basically started a crime spree."

The spree included offenses in Gulf Breeze; Madison County, Miss.; Metairie, La.; St. Augustine; and Kansas.

He was arrested in Kansas six days after Lewis was shot, Lueders said.

Aldridge has been serving a 150-year term for rape, armed robbery, burglary of a residence and kidnapping at Parchman.

A federal judge in 1972 said the corporal punishment that was customary at the working farm offended "modern standards of decency."

"I don't know if any of you are familiar with that prison," Lueders said to the reporters gathered for the press conference. "It's not a very pleasant place."

And that is why Sandra Jordan believes Aldridge belongs there.

"They have to work or sit in their cells all day long," she said. "If we have to support them, I think they should have to work.

"If they just earn their keep, look how much we would save in taxes."

Jordan said she was undecided if she would attend upcoming court proceedings. Or what she would say if given the chance.

"I've heard he's a real crazy guy; put it that way," she said. "I know I can tell him what I want.

"But I don't know there's anything I can do that would make a difference."